a16z will ‘proceed to tailor’ its multibillion-dollar crypto funds to market alternatives, GP says
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Welcome again to Chain Reaction, a podcast that interviews newsmakers in crypto to raised perceive the tech behind the hype and the individuals working to construct a decentralized future.
For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Arianna Simpson, common companion at Andreessen Horowitz (generally referred to as a16z).
Previous to becoming a member of a16z, Arianna based Autonomous Companions, an funding fund targeted on crypto. She additionally helped launch Crystal Towers Capital, an early-stage fund investing primarily in YC firms.
A16z has dug deep into the crypto area after launching 4 funds devoted to the trade. The newest one closed at $4.5 billion in Could 2022, and Arianna thinks it’s applicable, given the scale of the chance.
“I definitely assume the ecosystem has grown to a measurement the place it completely helps a fund of this measurement and that’s why we raised a fund of this measurement,” Simpson stated. “We didn’t have to boost any quantity; we selected a quantity that we thought spoke to the scale of the chance. The ecosystem has clearly grown tremendously and is continuous to draw tons of early-stage entrepreneurs who’re constructing throughout the board.”
When requested if there can be a fifth crypto fund from a16z, Simpson stated, “I definitely hope so.” She added a16z will “proceed to tailor our fund sizes to alternatives we see out there.”
A number of the agency’s portfolio firms embody huge crypto gamers we’ve interviewed prior to now, like Alchemy, Avalanche and Aptos.
Over time, there’s been an growth of funding alternatives “into a complete new world of shopper functions, experiences and merchandise that simply weren’t doable as a result of they couldn’t run on blockchains a number of years in the past, and now they’re,” Simpson stated. “To me, that’s what’s actually thrilling: there’s this complete world of functions that can be utilized by shoppers.”
We talked about Simpson’s background, how her technique has modified over time, what she seems to be for in founders and whether or not she would launch one other VC agency sooner or later.
We additionally mentioned:
- The present investing local weather
- The web3 gaming area
- The place founders are constructing
- The regulatory panorama
- Recommendation for founders
Chain Response comes out each different Thursday at 12:00 p.m. PT, so you’ll want to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite pod platform to maintain up with the most recent in web3 and crypto.
